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GENE SIMMONS CALLS KISS CO-FOUNDERS 'DRUNKS' AND 'LOSERS'

by Stoney,posted Sep 17 2013 12:17PM

Gene Simmons can't stop taking swings at Kiss co-founders Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Simmons who carries on the Kiss banner 40 years later with Paul Stanley, talked about the group, while publicizing his and Stanley's joint memoir, Nothin' To Lose: The Making Of Kiss (1972-75).

As always, Simmons pulled no punches when talking about the disappointment he feels towards Criss and Frehley, but refused to take any of the blame the former drummer and guitarist -- along with millions of fans -- continue throw his way, declaring, "I am the bad guy. I won't stand for drunks and alcoholics who get up on stage and consider it their birthright. I consider it a privilege to get up there and arrive on time and be sober, and I'll be an a***hole to anybody who thinks otherwise. You know who else is an a***hole? Your teacher was an a**hole. Your parents are a**holes. Your drill sergeant was an a***hole. Because they wouldn't let you get away with s***. Ace and Peter have had a lifetime of being losers. And not just with drugs and alcohol. They're losers because of wrong decisions. You sleep in the bed you make. How many chances in life do you get? They were in and out of the band three different times. Why should they get another chance?"

Nothin' To Lose: The Making Of Kiss (1972-75), was co-written with Ken Sharp and draws on "more than 200 interviews, offering a captivating and intimate fly-on-the-wall account of their launch, charting the struggles and ultimate victories that led them to the threshold of super-stardom. Constructed as an oral history, the book includes original interviews with Paul, Gene, Ace, and Peter, as well as producers, engineers, management, roadies, costume and stage designers, fans, and musical contemporaries from the time."